How to Permanently Turn Off Google Instant in Mozilla Firefox

The new way to search on Google called Google Instant (G.I.) comes with a unique search enhancement that readily shows results as you type. With this latest search engine technology employed by Google, the search results are now instant! Some Googlers’ may find this new search enhancement akin to a refreshing fount and for some-others it’s a Chinese water torture as it delays most peoples searching habits because as they’re searching, they already have a predetermined keyword or phrase in mind and so the keyword guesses presented while typing adds to the distraction and confusion of the users.

By default, Google Instant is ON which can be easily deactivated either by changing preferences in Search settings or directly from any search results page using the drop down arrow next to the search button. But it drives you crazy when you come to know that G.I. still pops up each time you open Firefox even after changing preferences under settings. So, here is how you can permanently turn-off Google Instant in Mozilla Firefox.

Go to Google Preferences and scroll down until you find Google Instant option and select the radio button that says “Do not use Google Instant”, and click Save Preferences button near the bottom right hand side.

Now, go to Start->Run… and type %appdata%mozillafirefoxprofiles and press OK to show your profile on Firefox.

In the profiles window, open the folder named (somenumbercode).default and find the file contained in it named prefs which is a JScript Script file.

Now all you have to do is go to Prefs properties by Right clicking on it and selecting Properties and change the attributes to Read-only.

That’s it! Now all your browser preferences are set to Read-only mode and cannot be changed which means you have managed to permanently turn-off Google Instant in Firefox.

Try it yourself to see if it works for you and post your results up in the comments section below.